1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an occupant restraint system in which an airbag module accommodating an airbag in a folded state is placed along a side edge of a roof, and the airbag inflated at a time of collision of a vehicle presses to open a connecting portion between a roof lining covering the roof from a side of a vehicle compartment and a pillar garnish covering a pillar from the side of the vehicle compartment, and deploys downward into the vehicle compartment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-122073 discloses an occupant restraint system in which a horizontal guide wall 32f extending to a center pillar 22, and a projection 32a extending upward from a tip end of the guide wall 32f and engaging in a mounting hole 22b of the center pillar 22 are provided at an upper part of a center pillar garnish 32, and a gap between the center pillar 22 and the center pillar garnish 32 is closed with the guide wall 32f, in order to prevent the situation in which an airbag, which deploys into a curtain shape along an inner surface of a vehicle compartment from a side edge of a roof, slips into the gap between the center pillar 22 and the center pillar garnish 32 and cannot smoothly deploy.
Also, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-362287 discloses an occupant restraint system in which a projecting portion 52, which is formed of a metal plate and projects into a vehicle compartment, is provide at a position at a side of a center pillar 12 and above a portion where a roof lining 47 and a center pillar garnish 53 are connected, and an inflating airbag 21 is guided to the vehicle compartment with a guide surface 52a of the projecting portion 52, in order to solve the same problem as that described above.
However, in each of the above-described inventions described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. 2001-122073 and 2002-362287, the connecting portions of the roof lining and the center pillar garnish only butt to each other in the vertical direction, and therefore there arises the problem that the dimension of the gap between them is not stabilized to make the appearance worse. Especially when the roof lining and the center pillar garnish expand or contract due to temperature difference, the gap is increased or decreased, and the appearance is further worsened.
In the above-described invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-122073, the guide wall 32f is provided at a lower position from the upper end of the center pillar garnish 32, and therefore there exists the possibility that the airbag is caught by the upper end of the center pillar garnish 32 projecting upward beyond the guide wall 32f, and is prevented from deploying. In the above-described invention in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-362287, the guide portion 59 having the guide surface 59a for guiding the deploying airbag is formed by a separate member from the center pillar garnish 53, and therefore there arises the problem of increasing the number of components and the number of assembling steps.